Amid Nuclear ‘Endgame’, Will Old Enmities Prevail?

Rumor has it that a framework nuclear agreement between the P5+1 and Iran is going to be finalized soon – by Tuesday, in fact, when the clock runs out on the agreed-upon deadline. But despite some optimistic forecasts, the final stretch of the months-long negotiations is shrouded in uncertainty: have the six powers and Iran agreed on just enough for a framework agreement, or have they gone all the way?

Meanwhile, The Atlantic published an analysis by Trita Parsi, who insisted that even Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei – notorious for outspoken opposition to President Hassan Rouhani’s path of engagement with the West – actually wants a deal with world powers, even though his rhetoric might suggest the exact opposite. As if that weren’t enough of a leap of logic, Parsi cited the Treaty of Turkmenchay – signed with Russia in 1828 (then an enemy, now a nuclear supplier) – as a major reason for Iran’s reluctance to compromise with Washington. He then went on to equate losing “uranium-enrichment rights” with losing “territory.” Either Khamenei is playing very hard to get – to the point that we’re not really sure he’s in the game at all – or Parsi is once again lobbying in the name of Iranian interests (instead of advancing Iranian-American interests).